Friday, 4 May 2018

Friday Thoughts and Baby Pony Questions

I had a moment of inspiration last night when Bridget was playing the whole behind the leg/don't wanna game. I dragged out some poles to play with and she lit right up. Like a night and day difference energy/enthusiasm wise. We haven't jumped since Christmas, due partly to my lack of interest/being bored with teeny Bridget appropriate courses forever, and also due to not currently owning a jump saddle that fits adequately. I'm not overly brave over fences myself and I find excuses to not jump other horses so my own meager skills are getting pretty stagnant. I trust my own horses only, apparently :) So, canter poles in a dressage saddle are the best I can do at the moment with my tack and abilities. Sorry Bridget, maybe next time I can set up some cross rails - those should still be doable in a dressage saddle.

"You have treats?" pose. Side note: the coloring on her legs drives me nuts for photos...the backs and part of the sides of them are nearly white hair and it makes her legs look wonky in pretty much every picture ever. I swear they are normal, straight cob legs IRL (Ha, maybe you never noticed and now you can't look away, it looks so messed up, lol :)

My experiment was interesting, because I'm pretty sure she's telling me she's just bored and not a fan of dressage, rather than having any physical ailments that are troubling her. Last night she worked harder than she has in a couple of months, and was happy to do it.

It looks like I need to reinvest in a jump saddle! Not such a bad thing for me either - although dressage is my favorite thing, I miss eventing already and have hopes of one day taking Sophie out XC. I'd best be improving myself if that's a real goal - B and I had some tough times learning together, and Sophie is far more athletic/sensitive so I'm thinking I should try to be at my best if I want to do right by her.

On our way to the ring last night. Hacking back and forth adds time to my evenings, but it's another thing I think Bridget enjoys. I do need to do something about that mane at some point, lol

Sophie has just turned two and is growing like a weed. I've only ever had quarter horses at this age before, and honestly, by two, they've been about the height they're going to get, and even partway filled out too. I know they're still babies and it's not my thing to start them young, but I can see why some people would look at those little quarter horses and be like "Yep, that looks like something we could ride."

No riding any year soon for this one. For now, she is just in training to clean her own paddock :) She's the friendliest baby, so interested in everything I do.

Sophie...not so much. She looks like a just turned yearling. She's still all legs and narrow body, teensy baby feet, and quite bum high. She's super gangly and awkward looking right now. Most of the people she's met think she's a 2017 baby. That's fine, she'll catch up, I'm sure. There's no rush to start her under saddle or anything like that. Her dam is a swedish warmblood who's pretty built, and her sire is a stout little Welsh B, so I'm sure she'll fill out.

This should be such a cute picture, but that pointy bum and tucked up belly from this angle makes me reluctant to post it.

Anyway, on to the questions...feeding this growing baby! She currently gets all the timothy and 2nd cut orchardgrass she can eat, plus a big flake of alfalfa twice a day. For grain, she's just been getting the young/working horse ration balancer sold for our local area, at the amount recommended on the tag. I still feel like she's a bit too thin and ribby at the moment. She's been here a month and a bit now so that's on me. I'm not panicking, because spring grass is here and she's out on that 24/7, plus I know babies go through awkward stages...but still, it's on my radar that she's not looking as well as I'd hope. It goes without saying she had a recent vet check and is up to date on deworming and vaccinations, and her teeth look good.

Eat, pony, eat! Pic from same day and she looks fine, it's all about the angle of the photo right now.

So, two questions, what is everyone else feeding their youngsters, and can I expect her to keep growing later than I'm used to? She's grown a noticable amount (guessing about an inch - she's taller than B now!) just in the last month.

Don't worry, as always I have a vet for advice, but I know bloggers are a wealth of information too!

12 comments

ground poles are always hugely hugely useful for inspiring a little motivation and pep in charlie's step when he might otherwise be a little sluggish or blah in our flat rides. it's like he sees the poles and feels like he's going to something, vs me pushing him somewhere, if that makes sense. glad B had fun with ground poles in your ride!

and yea i definitely feel ya on skinny horse woes. i was always super paranoid about how skinny charlie was in pictures or during his earliest outings when he came off the track bc... he looked like trash. it's process but hopefully you get some good ideas in optimizing her diet!

I'm feeding Triple Crown Growth - 4lbs a day, which is a bit less than the recommended amount, because I also give him alfalfa pellets, Equipride, and a bit of oil. Still ribby. Definitely has gained some condition since he got to me, but still just a really gawky, scrawny horse in general. Our grass and hay is not as good as yours, so it's tough to make up for forage that isn't the best. That's Texas, though.

It's always a balancing act to feed the babies. It's so important to keep the diet balanced and the vitamins where they should be, without feeding too much protein or sugar. If you're going to err one way or the other, a bit skinny is definitely better. I know how you feel though... you want them to look more THRIVING than they tend to look.

Thank you, so great to hear I'm not alone. I've looked at the hay test results, and we should be in line with what she needs, protein and sugar wise, and the ration balancer should be adequate to fill the gaps (selinium lacking here in our hays, mostly). I might look into alfalfa pellets and a bit of oil - I could get a few more calories in that way, at least vs just the hay she tends to pick at at all day. I have a feeling handsome Presto is probably twice the size of mine already :)

It sounds like you've got a lot of good things going on in terms of your feeding program. The spring grass should definitely make a difference. I personally think it's better for them to be on the thinner side (says the girl with a not to skinny cob).

Always err on the side of skinny. My chubby andalusian has been on a diet, and I would not want him eating grass 24/7. He grew from 15.1 at 3, to 15.3 at 5 and should finish at 16hands but it might take another year or two to get there.

Excess weight really impacts those growing joints and can bring a host of problems. Also, when he has a growth spurt he gets/looks “skinnier” but its temporary. Right now he looks amazing but he just grew 1/2 inch so its probably temporary.

I didn't really feed extra grain to Mystic (besides maybe a small handful here and there with medicine or minerals) as she has wanted to be heavier since the dawn of time. She was on great hay/grass and salt and mineral blocks.

I did feed a few different vet recommended diets to Henry (everything from beet pulp to bran mash to alfalfa with a million different supplements to help him look healthy and gain weight). I found a great nutritionist for him when he was about 3, I wish I found her way earlier! He honestly just looked like a sad thin homeless mule for way too long. I'd be happy to give you my nutrition lady's info if you're interested! :) Feeding babies is stressful!

That's so wonderful about the ground poles! And re: growth, I know nothing on Griffin's breeding, but he's been growing every year since I got him - he'll be 8 this July. Mostly, it's filling out at this point, but I'm damn near convinced he put on a little more height over the past 18 months. I need to stick him again...